Carolyn Royston was announced as the Brooklyn Museum’s new deputy director for engagement in January 2022. “I can’t think of a more exciting place to be,” she said. In her role, Royston is overseeing the Brooklyn Museum’s audience engagement strategy, focusing on digital initiatives. She leads a team that includes digital communications, graphic design, marketing, merchandising, public relations and visitor experience.
“At this critical moment in time, as the country and the world emerge from a series of crises in a fractured state, the Brooklyn Museum – rooted in one of the most vibrant creative and cultural ecosystems in the world (Brooklyn!) – has an unparalleled opportunity to serve as a platform for inspiration, for scholarship, and for important discussions,” said Royston.
Royston previously served as chief experience officer at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, where she integrated the digital and physical visitor experience. She also worked as head of digital at the Imperial War Museums. Over the past two decades, she has worked on senior management teams to transform the way cultural organisations use technology to create change and connect modern audiences to museum collections.
Royston has held senior positions with other museums in the US and the UK, including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. There, she led the launch of an award-winning website and initiatives to improve the visitor experience. In addition, she served as the president of MCN (Museum Computer Network), a non-profit representing a range of information professionals from cultural sector institutions around the world.
As head of digital at Imperial War Museums, Royston was responsible for all public-facing digital outputs across five museum sites. Prior to that, she was the project director of the National Museums Online Learning Project, a flagship UK initiative led by the V&A.
“The museums that are better equipped, that have a strategy, that have the right resourcing, are the ones that are being more successful in the digital realm right now,” Royston told blooloop. “The others are suddenly having to invent a whole online presence. This means expecting staff who normally don’t work in the sphere to be on a steep learning curve.”